James Cameron said last Spring he disbanded his production company’s development wing, noting that aside from his deep-sea submarine dives, that he’s exclusively in the ” Avatar business – meaning Avatar 2 , Avatar 3 and possibly Avatar 4 . Well, that was then and this is now… But, Cameron’s production company has picked up rights to Taylor Stevens’ thriller novel The Informationist which he’ll likely direct and produce. “I’m not going to produce other people’s movies for them,” he told the New York Times earlier in the year. While Avatar -orama is still on, Cameron is eyeing a filmmaking life beyond the 3-D behemoth. Avatar ‘s follow-up may not hit screens for another four to five years, so it may be quite a number of years before The Informationist actually makes its way into production. But for now the plan is that his Lightstorm Entertainment label will develop the adaptation for 20th Century Fox, THR reports . “This was an opportunity to continue our relationship with Fox and Jim Gianopulos beyond the Avatar films,” Landau said in a statement to THR. “We were drawn to this book because of the terrific, compelling narrative and the character, who typifies the strong female protagonists that have inhabited Jim’s work. In this case, Vanessa Munroe is essentially a mix of Lisbeth Salander and Jason Bourne.” Said Cameron: “Taylor Stevens’ Vanessa Michael Munroe is an intriguing and compelling heroine with an agile mind and a thirst for adventure. Equally fascinating for me is her emotional life and her unexpected love story.” Amazon’s description of The Informationist: Stevens’s blazingly brilliant debut introduces a great new action heroine, Vanessa Michael Munroe, who doesn’t have to kick over a hornet’s nest to get attention, though her feral, take-no-prisoners attitude reflects the fire of Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander….Thriller fans will eagerly await the sequel to this high-octane page-turner.” —Publishers Weekly, starred, boxed review Vanessa “Michael” Munroe deals in information—expensive information—working for corporations, heads of state, private clients, and anyone else who can pay for her unique brand of expertise. Born to missionary parents in lawless central Africa, Munroe took up with an infamous gunrunner and his mercenary crew when she was just fourteen. As his protégé, she earned the respect of the jungle’s most dangerous men, cultivating her own reputation for years until something sent her running. After almost a decade building a new life and lucrative career from her home base in Dallas, she’s never looked back. [ Sources: THR , The Film Stage , Amazon ]
Ashley Benson and James Franco have a secret, and they just can’t keep it. According to New York Post sources, the Pretty Little Liars star and the do-everything actor are totally a new item. Benson and Franco – who both appeared in the film Spring Breakers – were spotted on multiple occasions over the past few weeks, first at Washington Square Park and then holding hands at the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride. “They have been seeing each other for a little over a month, but things are going well,” an insider tells the newspaper . Reps both have remained silent regarding the rumor. Franco, meanwhile, was actually linked to Kristen Stewart at the Toronto International Film Festival. But those reports were never confirmed.
The series’ fifth film will debut in October 2013 after a Latino spin-off in the Spring. By Kevin P. Sullivan Kathryn Newton in “Paranormal Activity 4” Photo: Paramount Pictures
Justin Bieber’s a Global Style Icon?? Since when? According to Celebuzz… Justin Bieber was named the new global style icon of Adidas NEO, the company announced Tuesday. The 18-year-old singer signed a two-year contract with the fashion label and will be the face of NEO’s campaigns under their “Live Your Style” slogan. The “As Long As You Love Me” singer explained, “I found a real connection with NEO because it is about fashion, freedom and being true to who you are.” What does fashion mean to Bieber? “With my new album, Believe, I am spreading the message of believing yourself in fashion. The first step is showing who you are, and one of the great ways to showcase yourself is through fashion.” Bieber said. Bieber takes his style – and his new title as global style icon – very seriously. “For me, style is an adventure, something to have fun with and NEO believes this too.” Bieber’s responsibilities will include inspiring teens with the label’s new fresh looks, making appearances on behalf of the brand, and sharing the latest news and collections through his impressive social media networks. His reign will begin with a Spring/Summer 2013 campaign – to debut in February. Is this a good move for Adidas? Images via WENN
Alec Baldwin says the documentary he’s making with filmmaker James Toback , Seduced and Abandoned , continues to take shape. I spoke to Baldwin briefly at the reception that Hamptons International Film Festival Chairman Stuart Suna threw at his East Hampton home on Saturday afternoon. There, the actor — who arrived at the party gallantly carrying his new bride Hilaria Thomas’s high-heeled party shoes — explained that interviews he and Toback conducted with venerable filmmakers Martin Scorsese , Francis Ford Coppola , Roman Polanski and Bernardo Bertolucci will comprise the core of the project. “They are the pillars of the film,” said Baldwin, who described Seduced and Abandoned as a “meta” documentary about filmmakers who venture to the carnival-like South of France festival to raise funds for their latest projects. The “meta” aspect of the film stems from Baldwin and Toback’s plans to appear in Seduced and Abandoned as themselves as they attempt to scare up funds for a small movie they may or may not make. Baldwin also said that the incorporation of the Cannes festival footage the men shot on Croisette in May will depend what falls under the “fair use” doctrine of U.S. copyright law. He also confirmed that movie mogul Harvey Weinstein will not appear in Seduced and Abandoned. Weinstein drew Baldwin’s ire when he declined to be interviewed for the film at Cannes, although the two men made peace a few days later. In May, Toback told Deadline , “We will talk to every billionaire financier in Cannes, to a few directors and movie stars to get a sense of where film is today and how it is changing as a business, and the whole evolution of Cannes from a pure festival to this bizarre mix of wildly diverse elements. It still clings to the pure notion of film, with all sorts of other ramifications from financial to maritime implications that make it so complex.” Baldwin let drop another nugget of interesting information later that night at a Q&A he conducted with actor Richard Gere at Guild Hall in East Hampton. There, the 30 Rock star said that he might be teaching at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he is an alumni, in the spring. Although it’s a fair assumption that Baldwin will be teaching some form of acting class, he did not elaborate upon his comment. I’ve put in a call to his spokesman and to NYU and will update accordingly. Also in attendance at the chairman’s reception in East Hampton were Gere, Sting, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Adam Driver and Dree Hemingway. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
“Since you gave me the pu**y that a$$ been gettin’ fatter”-DMX Kim Kardashian Admits To Using Diet Pills To Lose Weight Via RadarOnline Kim Kardashian has added some swerve to her curves, but she isn’t shy about sharing her weight gain struggles. The reality star is desperately trying to lose the weight she has gained since hooking up with Kanye West in the Spring, likening her weight gain to her older sister Kourtney’s pregnancy pounds and admitting that she is taking diet pills to get her body back. Kim, who is currently in Miami shooting the upcoming season of Kourtney & Kim Take Miami, also revealed on the social media site that she is taking a diet pill to lose the extra padding. Kimmy took her enlarging cakes to the beach this morning to walk off some calories with Kourtney, and her basketball wife bosom buddy Larsa Pippen. Betta get on that Kanye Workout Plan girl… Image via WENN
Years in the making, director Ang Lee was apparently still tweaking his ravishing Life of Pi up until the Friday morning pre-gala screening of his latest for press and industry Friday morning. The epic 3-D adaptation of the book by Yann Martel delivered a rare cinematic experience about a young Indian boy who endures a seemingly endless time at sea. Fox released visuals from the film during summer, but suppositions about what the film is about may be dashed — at least for those who have not read the book. One thing is predictable, however: Oscar night will certainly reserve some — and likely many — spots for Life of Pi , Lee will certainly be up for another Best Director nomination, and the feature will undoubtedly be up for Best Picture. The Film Society of Lincoln Center scored a coup debuting this spectacle on its opening night of the 50th New York Film Festival . Also certainly in the running for accolades this awards season is the film’s young star, Suraj Sharma, who Lee found for the title role of Pi after months of searching. He gives a stunning performance as a highly spiritual and introspective young boy who finds himself the only human survivor after his ship sinks during a violent storm. Along with him are a gaggle of animals, including an adult tiger. Previous teasers about Life of Pie suggested the young boy befriends the Bengal tiger, almost as if the audience is being set up for a human-wild beast version of Blue Lagoon . In truth, their relationship is much more complex and those looking for a fantasy story with animals and humans living together harmoniously in paradise may be disappointed — this is not a South Seas 3-D version of Chronicles of Narnia . Still, a bond is established and they do happen on a sort of paradise island, but even that takes an unusual twist. Much of the film, however, is set aboard a life raft and Sharma assumes the duty of carrying the movie emotionally and physically as he finesses his relationship with the tiger, named Richard Parker. To get Sharma ready to portray a man fighting to survive at sea, Lee had him meet American author and sailor Steven Callahan, who actually survived weeks in open water and lived to tell about it. He wrote Adrift: 76 Days Lost At Sea (1986), which was itself a New York Times best-seller “I met him on a ship and it was raining with big waves,” said Sharma at the Walter Reade Theater Friday afternoon. “I met Steve and didn’t know who he was at that point. I found out he had survived 76 days at sea. He said you don’t feel anything, most of the time you feel completely blank. So when you do feel emotions, they are very strong, very powerful moments. So I tried to [employ] that in my acting.” Initially, it was Sharma’s brother who went after the part of Pi, but he was encouraged to audition as well. The process went on for six months and he received many call backs, but then he was asked to go to what he called Bombay (Mumbai) and his emotions turned. “I I was really excited when I went there and gave a final audition,” he said. “The first time I didn’t think I did very well, and then Ang talked to me and made me breathe in particular ways that brought out emotion inside of me. And by the end of it I didn’t even feel like I was acting anymore. I was just kind of an instrument of sorts.” After reading the novel Life of Pi , Lee said he found the book “fascinating” and “mind-boggling” but didn’t think anyone in their “right mind would put up money for this,” as he recalled today. Even author Yann Martel said that while writing the story he imagined it as “very cinematic in my mind” but he didn’t think the complications the story posed would make it possible to make it into a movie. “The literature is philosophy, regardless of how cinematic it is. And it would be very, very expensive and nearly impossible to do, and how do you sell this thing? I thought the economic side and the artistic side may not ever meet,” said Lee. Fox, however, did approach Lee several years ago and turning Pi into a feature became a possibility. “Elizabeth Gabler approached me and said it had always been their dream to work with me,” said Lee. “Little by little, it started to become my destiny and my faith, so to speak.” “We knew we could never make this film without a superior ‘guiding light’ in our leader and the filmmaker that was actually going to bring it to life,” recalled Fox 2000 head Elizabeth Gabler. “When we heard that Ang was possibly interested, I went to see him. And he said,’ Why is it that a studio would make this? It’s going to be a big, huge movie…I told him that audiences are always craving something original and new and we felt that under his directorship we would have something that could be extraordinary and new to the world in so many different ways.” While Gabler kept the budget under wraps, anyone who watches the film can easily see it must have gobbled up a hefty amount of money. Without providing a lot of detail, Lee said he spent a year animating a version of the story in order to communicate to his crew what he wanted, though once production began, circumstance ruled the day and Lee had to adapt to unforeseen challenges. “Planning and improvisation took place. For a movie like this, nothing works the way you plan it, so you just have to go along. One time it took one week to get something done in my shot list. Often it took one or two days to get something done on my shot list. I have a dramatic background, so I don’t usually use storyboards. The shots were so expensive for this, so I spent a whole year before making this movie to animate it so I could talk to the team about what it should be like. So, I wouldn’t call it so much improvising as surviving.” Follow Brian Brooks on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Also in Friday afternoon’s round-up of news briefs, newcomers Hotel Transylvania and Looper are tracking strong in the weekend box office. And two new titles are heading to theaters. Terrence Malick’s To The Wonder Headed to U.S. Theaters The film starring Ben Affleck, Olga Kurylenko, Rachel McAdams and Javier Bardem is the story of Marina (Kurylenko) and Neil (Affleck), who meet in France and move to Oklahoma to start a life together, where problems soon arise. While Marina makes the acquaintance of a priest and fellow exile (Bardem), who is struggling with his vocation, Neil renews a relationship with a childhood sweetheart, Jane (McAdams). Bold and lyrical, the film is a moving, gorgeously shot exploration of love in its many forms. Magnolia Pictures, which picked up U.S. rights to the Terrence Malick-directed feature, plans a 2013 theatrical release. Generation Um… Heads to U.S. and Canadian Theaters The film is set at the end of another night out sets the stage for an intimate unfolding of the relationships John, Violet and Mia have, with each other and the city around them. As the day fades into night, secrets are revealed, compromises are made, loneliness is acknowledged, laughter is cherished, lies are dispelled and disappointment is dealt with – and the unusual circumstance that binds these three late-night characters together comes into focus. Phase 4 Films which picked up U.S. and Canadian rights to the film plans a Spring 2013 release. Around the ‘net… Andrew Garfield and Marc Webb Head for Spider-Man Sequel Garfield will return as Peter Parker and Marc Webb will direct the Columbia Pictures sequel set for May 2014. Emma Stone is in talks about a possible return. The next installment will be released on 3-D, Deadline reports . Fox Searchlight Eyeing Natalie Portman for Jackie Kennedy Drama The specialty division handled Portman’s Oscar turn in Black Swan . The Noah Oppenheimer scripted drama follows the former first lady in the immediate assassination aftermath of John F. Kennedy, Deadline reports . Sony’s Hotel Transylvania Tracking Solid $30M Weekend Hotel Transylvania and newcomer Looper are off to a stung start, with the latter tracking at $18 – 20 million. Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis starrer, Won’t Back Down , however, may only cross $5 million, THR reports .
Books, not crooks…SMH Thugs Vandalize Woman’s SUV With Misspelled Curse Word A York City woman found the misspelled word “bicth” and other vandalism spray painted on her SUV over the weekend. The woman who lives in the 200 block of Franklin Way reported to city police at 8:40 a.m. Saturday that someone used white paint to write the letters “LK” on both sides of her 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe. A crown was painted on the passenger side and an undistinguishable design on the hood, police said. The white paint was also used to write “bicth” on the driver’s side doors, police said. At the same time, the woman also reported to police that her motorcycle was stolen from her property. It was recovered in Spring Garden Township, city police said. Sounds like the “LK” and the crown is for the gang Latin Kings. How are you so ignorant that you can’t even spell the ignorant isht you say correctly??? Image via Photobucket Source
